1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical outlets and more particularly pertains to safety covers for electrical outlets which may be adapted for enclosing an electrical wall outlet for minimizing personal injury due to electric shock and alternatively additionally for providing a tamper-proof means to prevent unauthorized connection or interruption of electrical power to an appliance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of safety covers for electrical outlets is known in the prior art. More specifically, safety cover for electrical outlets heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of enclosing an electrical wall outlet are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
The present invention is directed to improving devices for enclosing an electrical wall outlets for minimizing personal injury due to electric shock and alternatively additionally for providing a tamper-proof means to prevent unauthorized connection or interruption of electrical power to an appliance in a manner which is safe, secure, economical and aesthetically pleasing.
For example, U.S. Pat. 5,087,796 to Norman discloses an electrical outlet safety cover that encloses electrical sockets and keeps small children from pulling plugs out of sockets or inserting objects into sockets. The outlet safety cover includes a housing and flexible clip which interlocks with housing to securely hold housing against electrical outlet faceplate. The housing can be installed and removed quickly without the use of a tool, by means of a flexible clip that is attached to existing electrical outlet assembly with a screw. The housing is installed by simply pushing the housing onto flexible clip. To remove housing, adults need to simply apply finger pressure to tabs until housing disengages with flexible clip.
U.S. Patent Des. No. 310,320 to Domian shows a protective cover for electrical outlet consisting of a cover removably hingedly connected to an electrical outlet cover plate, the cover having a snap latch to keep it in the closed position.
Both of the inventions described above may be easily opened without special tools or skills therefore, while they may be useful in preventing electrical shock injury to very small children, lack usefulness in preventing tampering with appliance cords by, or in electrical shock protection of, older children and adults.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,148 to Buckshaw describes a safety cap for electrical outlet being secured to the faceplate screw and comprising a pair of safety plugs and a tether connecting the two safety plugs together; each plug has a plug face plate and a pair of prongs integrally attached to the plug face plate for inserting into the electrical outlet.
U.S. Pat. Des. No. 331,386 to Koessler illustrates an electrical outlet safety cover consisting of an outlet faceplate having a pair of hingedly connected generally planar doors which pivot toward each other to close against the faceplate.
Neither of the disclosures show a way to secure or protect an electrical appliance plug inserted into the outlet.
The prior art also discloses a safety cover for an electrical wall outlet as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,439 to Piedmont which consists of a base plate with at least one cowl means attached to the base plate to enclose an electrical plug when the plug is in the electrical receptacle to reduce possible accidental contact with the prongs of the plug when it is being inserted or extracted while the prongs of the plug are still in contact with the receptacle which reduces the chance of an electrical shock or a fire hazard; there is a protective cap means to place over the access port to the cowl to reduce the chance of undesired entry to the receptacle while the plug is not in place in the receptacle. The invention disclosed does not provide a way to prevent unauthorized removal of the electrical plug nor does it provide a positive locking means to prevent unwanted insertion of an object into the electrical outlet.
In this respect, the safety cover for electrical outlets according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of enclosing an electrical wall outlet for minimizing personal injury due to electric shock and alternatively additionally for providing a tamper-proof means to prevent unauthorized connection or interruption of electrical power to an appliance.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved safety covers for electrical outlets which can be used for enclosing an electrical wall outlet for minimizing personal injury due to electric shock and alternatively additionally for providing a tamper-proof means to prevent unauthorized connection or interruption of electrical power to an appliance. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.
As illustrated by the background art, efforts are continuously being made in an attempt to develop devices for enclosing an electrical wall outlet. No prior effort, however, provides the benefits attendant with the present invention. Additionally, the prior patents and commercial techniques do not suggest the present inventive combination of component elements arranged and configured as disclosed and claimed herein.
The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objects, and advantages through a new, useful and unobvious combination of method steps and component elements, with the use of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture, and by employing only readily available materials.